Surface analysis of prepared nanotungsten oxide and effect on the physical, mechanical, and radiation shielding properties of composites based on nitrile butadiene rubber and agro-waste bean fibers

This study addresses the growing demand for efficient, versatile, and non-toxic radiation shields by developing a sustainable nanocomposite using waste bean fiber as a bio-based framework. A nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) nanocomposite was prepared, containing 10 phr (parts per hundred rubber) of waste bean fiber (WF) and varying amounts of tungsten oxide nanoparticles (nano-WO 3 ). The resulting materials were evaluated for their shielding performance against gamma rays from 137 Cs (0.662 MeV) and 60 Co (1.17 and 1.33 MeV). FTIR analysis confirmed the successful incorporation of nano-WO 3 and effective silane coupling agent within the NBR/WF nanocomposites. The NBR5/50 kGy sample, incorporated with 7 phr of nano-WO 3 and subjected to 50 kGy irradiation, demonstrated a pronounced enhancement in tensile strength (TS), rising from 2.04 to 9.66 MPa, alongside an increase in elastic modulus (EM) from 2.76 to 70.77 MPa. The crosslink density (υ e ) also exhibited a significant increase of 109%. These results demonstrate enhanced network formation and mechanical reinforcement. The gamma attenuation parameters (MAC, LAC, MFP, HVL, and TVL) were computed theoretically using Phy-X/PSD software and determined experimentally. The results reveal that there is agreement between theoretical and experimental results. The results indicated that incorporating nano-WO 3 up to 7 phr led to notable improvements: the MAC (μ/ρ) increased by approximately 6–7.7%, while the HVL decreased by about 4.7–5.8% across the three energies. The combination of WF and nano-WO 3 enabled the development of a novel, lightweight, and sustainable nanocomposite.